1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of construction, and more particularly the construction of walls, facings and the like, such as in swimming pools, simulating natural rock or other decorative surfaces.
2. Prior Art
Rock walls and the like have been used as decorative facings for various types of structures for many years. Historically such walls have been constructed from natural rock and mortar, generally abutting a structural wall of some kind to provide a decorative surface or finish therefor. In recent years however, the cost of locating and transporting natural rock of suitable size and character for such purposes has rapidly increased, and accordingly various techniques have been utilized to simulate rock surfaces and the like, utilizing materials other than natural rock. Fiberglass panels simulating rock and mortar, and molded concrete rock and mortar walls are examples.
The particularly attractive ornamental appearance of natural rock surfaces has created a demand for the accurate simulation of such surfaces in new applications; such as by way of example, swimming pool walls. Such applications may require the simulation of rock surfaces of greater area, of various overall shapes, and of greater structural requirements. For cost and structural reasons, such applications may preclude the separate casting of individual concrete rocks and the placement of the individual molded rocks utilizing mortar to achieve the desired results. Accordingly, techniques have been developed and are known in the prior art for molding complete walls simulating rock surfaces.
One technique for simulating rock surfaces which is known in the prior art is to coat a suitable natural rock surface with liquid latex so as to provide a latex imprint of fine detail duplicating the rock surface. A number of latex coatings may be used to provide an overall thickness of latex sufficient to provide a relatively durable latex sheet giving a high degree of detail for the rock surface. This latex sheet may then be pealed away from the natural rock and supported at the location of the desired simulated rock surface for coating with concrete, gunnite or the like to provide this simulated surface.
While the latex sheet as hereinbefore described provides an accurate duplication of the natural rock surface to be simulated, it must be suitably supported before concrete or gunnite may be applied to the surface thereof. Thus various types of support have been utilized in the prior art. By way of example, soil may be utilized to support the latex sheet in the desired position which, depending upon its characteristics, may be sufficiently self-supporting to allow the vertical disposition of the latex sheet in the desired position prior to the pouring of concrete or the application of the gunnite. Other materials such as sand provide a better support for the detail on the latex sheet, though because of its lack of self-supporting characteristic, the sand on one side of the latex sheet is best added as the concrete or gunnite is applied to the opposite side of the sheet.
Another material which has been used in the prior art (U.S. Pat. No. 3,950,477, issued to the present inventor) is foam plastic pellets such as the foam plastic materials commonly used for packing materials. Such materials are very light and accordingly are very easily disposed behind the latex sheet without distorting the sheet. Also these pellets may have interlocking characteristics so as to bind rather than flow under pressure, thereby enhancing their ability to support the loads of cast concrete and gunnite. They have the disadvantage however of not providing the very finely distributed and uniform support, and accordingly may result in greater local irregularity in the simulated surface than desired. Also none of the foregoing materials provides the form and support of the latex sheet in the same shape in which it was originally formed on the natural rock surface, and accordingly the resulting distortion and reorientation of the latex results in some loss in detail in the simulated surface. Also these support materials are in turn not easily supported at the construction site, resulting in considerable hand labor during construction, and substantial variation during the practicing of the various methods.